Poland's Asseco mulls Nasdaq issue with investors

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

* Asseco seeks to attract Polish investors to Nasdaq issue

* Company does not plan to delist Formula from Nasdaq now

TEL AVIV, March 16 (Reuters) - Poland's top software maker Asseco ACPP.WA is discussing with investors a possible offering on Nasdaq and plans to make a decision by the end of March, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

"We would be the first Polish company to list on Nasdaq so we have to attract people," Adam Goral told a news conference in Tel Aviv, where he was visiting Asseco's newly acquired Israeli subsidiary.

"If the Polish market doesn't understand it we shouldn't do it. We have to attract Polish investors to this idea."

Late last year Europe's number five software group bought a 50.2 percent stake in Israeli IT firm Formula Systems FORT.TA (FORTY.O) for $145 million to tap markets in Israel, Canada, Japan and the United States. [ID:nLDE6820TT]

This was the first major investment in Israel by a Polish company.

Asseco's global ambitions are strongly connected to the U.S. market, Goral said.

"We thought the best bridge to the Americans is Israel," Goral said, noting Israel has a high percentage of engineers and a large number of technology start-ups.

"The Polish market was not prepared for such an investment, it was not appreciated by Polish investors," he added.

Asseco does not plan to delist Formula from Nasdaq at this time though Goral did not rule out such a move in the future.

He told Reuters last month the group has $200 million to $250 million to spend on acquisitions this year. [ID:nLDE71K262]

He said Asseco was in serious talks with a few companies.

"If we agree (on an acquisition) we'll grow rapidly and for such growth I'm sure we would need Nasdaq," Goral said. (Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Louise Heavens)